Print

Mail

wiki links

China tells students to stay away from stock market

China's education ministry has advised college students trying to cash in on the nation's booming stock market to stay away, the Xinhua news agency said.

"It's inappropriate for college students to invest in stocks because their basic task is to study and establish the foundation for a career," Xinhua quoted ministry spokesman Wang Xuming (王旭明) as saying late on Friday.

"It costs them precious time and energy," Wang said, adding that it was aware many students had joined China's stock frenzy.

Wang said students could not afford to take on the tremendous financial risks involved in playing the stock market, especially as most of them were still supported by their parents.

Students are lining up with people from all segments of Chinese society seeking to profit from the red-hot stock market, which has tripled in value since January last year.

The number of new trading accounts in China rocketed to 5 million in the first quarter of this year, compared with 3.08 million last year.

The report gave no figures on how many of China's 17 million university students were investing.

The education ministry was the latest to add its voice to a growing chorus warning that punters were ignoring the dangers of investing.

Officials both in China and abroad have repeatedly cautioned investors they could lose everything if the bubble were to pop.

This week former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan and the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development said Chinese stock prices were unsustainable and the market faced a correction.
This story has been viewed 1131 times.